


Facing Facts

by butnotdrowning, snarkbunny



Series: Resistance [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-10
Updated: 2014-11-10
Packaged: 2018-02-24 21:02:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2596334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butnotdrowning/pseuds/butnotdrowning, https://archiveofourown.org/users/snarkbunny/pseuds/snarkbunny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Retrospect from main work Avignon - early days in the resistance organisation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Facing Facts

It’s a huge risk, but it’s my only chance, and a slim one at that. At this point, I’ll be lucky if she doesn’t just stun me on sight and call for backup – and that is if I even get as far as her fireplace and she is by herself. Still, I don’t see what else I can do. Running away won’t help; it’s not just inflated self-importance that makes me think both sides will make it a high priority to get me. I’m simply in too deep. And going over to Umbridge’s side for real, at this point? Having her simper and smile at me every day for the rest of my natural life? That was never going to be a real option.

 

It’s a desperate last-ditch attempt, but I still have enough practical thought left that I wait until I’ve seen, from the cafe up the street, Weasley, Anderson and Markinswell leave the house. They part with just a quick murmur, and as soon as they’re all out of sight, I floo in.

 

Granger is looking out the window, but she whirls around as soon as I appear, wand in hand. I lift both my hands to show I am unarmed, although we both know this doesn’t make me helpless. She is poised to attack, and despite it all, I feel a flash of pride when I notice the mental shields I’ve taught her are in place.

 

“I _trusted_ you!” she snarls.

 

"And you were right to,” I say before clamping down on myself. No point in appealing to any friendly feelings she might have harboured towards me; if anything will save me now, it is her brain, not her heart. I try again. “Granger, you need to hear me out. I’m willing to surrender my wand and let you tie me up, but it’s vital that you listen to me before you decide what to do. After that I’ll go along with whatever you decide, but give me ten minutes.”

 

I don’t beg. It wouldn’t have gone over well. And she doesn’t soften at my offer – good for her! – but ties me up in the chair as solidly as she can, grabs my wand in her free hand and stands straight in front of me before she speaks again. “You have five minutes, and then I’m calling Ron and his crew. God knows why I would even give you that much. Speak.”

 

I waste no time. “It’s Krum.” She freezes, but I continue rattling off my speech while staring at the wall behind her. “He has been informing on you from the start. Directly to Umbridge, that’s why I didn’t know before – my clearance isn’t high enough. I only realised there had to be a mole last week, when they blocked the Hammersmith operation, and I dove straight into it. It seems after that, the Minister was too pleased with him to keep it a complete secret anymore, and as soon as her secretary knew, we all did. The watercooler gossip was impossible to still after that. Granger,” I suddenly say, still without looking into her face, “I know you care – that you trust him. Trusted him. And he’s not completely bad, really; he _did_ only report on the resistance stuff, at first, but the rest of them couldn’t be happier to finally get one over on you, and he got pulled along. It was ... it got unpleasant. Personal. In detail. I know you don’t want to hear it, but this is too important. He has been very outspoken these last days, and they all know they need to hit you hard and fast, before his cover is blown. You have to pack up and get out. All of you. Tonight.”

 

Silence. I breathe once, twice, and then I look up at her. She looks frozen, and I can’t tell if it’s anger or shock. I should give her time to think, but fuck, there is no time. If she doesn’t listen now, it’s all going to be over before the night is out. For me, it’s probably over already anyway. I don’t have anything to lose, so I press on. “I _am_ sorry, Granger. But there’s no time for that. And I know you have no real reason to trust me, and the rest of them even less so. You can leave me behind, if you think you need to – just stun me, get out, leave the rest up to the Minister and her thugs. I don’t much care. But you have to listen to what I say about Krum. You have to stop trusting him, and you have to get out tonight. I won’t tell you how to ...”

 

“Malfoy, shut _up_!” she barks, and I suddenly notice her hands are shaking. Just for a second or two, before she visibly takes control of herself and sits down in the other chair, spine straight as a ruler. Then she lifts her wand, almost as an afterthought, and snaps my bindings without a word.

 

“I believe you,” she says, and just like that, she slides my wand over to me. I have no idea what to do now, but I grab it anyway and stand up. If I have to, I’ll stun her and carry her out by hand, but that is the absolutely last resort. However, ten seconds ago I didn’t have even that much, so there’s that.

 

She stays frozen for a few heartbeats, then she starts talking in a smaller voice, one I haven’t heard since our early Hogwarts days, and never before directed at me. “I did know better. I should have seen that it wasn’t you – it didn’t make any sense, I _know_ why you’re on our side. But everybody was so sure, and I did so want to believe that Viktor .. that Krum was on _my_ side. There was no reason for him to be, just me. I – I kind of ... after Ron, I ... Malfoy, I’ve been so _stupid_.”

 

“Shut up, Granger,” I say, with as little exasperation as I’m capable of. “You are the least stupid person I know, but that’s not the important thing right now. You need to rally the forces, you need to get the hell out of Dodge, and at some point, you need to figure out what to do with me. I might remind you that you still need an insider at the Ministry, but talk to the others and think it over. You know how to get hold of me when you’ve decided. I’ll leave you to it.” I’m turning as I speak, ready to leave the way I got in, but an impatient “Stay!” holds me back. Turning towards her, I see her standing at the ready with a determined expression and almost no trace left of the uncertainty and hurt from a minute ago. Almost.

 

“Malfoy, you’re right we don’t have time for this. We also have no time for any more nonsense. I’ll tell the others at once, and you’re going to be there. We can’t plan a total evac without you on board, you know that as well as I do. They can bloody well get over themselves, as I plan on doing.” She has her Galleon in her hand and is sending out the call as she speaks.

 

“Get some more chairs. They’ll be back here in a few minutes. And for God’s sake brush your hair, Malfoy, this is no time to look like you’re falling apart!”

 

 

The rest of that evening is easily the worst I've spent since I joined the resistance. That was to be expected. Most of them never really trusted me, and nobody is inclined to like the bearer of bad news – especially news that is so crushing and embarrassing to their much respected leader. But I can scowl with the best of them; a bunch of not-so-righteously angry idealists isn't going to make me back down, not when Granger has explicitly asked me to stay. George Weasley and his sister both have to be physically held back when they enter and see me standing there, and Creampuff spends the meeting glaring daggers at me, not even relenting after the rest of them seem to have accepted facts. Anderson, for her part, doesn’t so much as glance at me, electing to look at Granger with an air of faux sympathy for most of the meeting.

 

There are a few pleasant surprises interspersed with the general air of anger, shock and mistrust. Luna has always had an air around her of vague benevolence – I have learned that she is as smart and as sharp as the rest of them, but she has a friendly kind of aloofness to her which often helps smooth the more ragged edges in heated meetings. She speaks to me as calmly as ever and seems to have no trouble accepting me as a trusted co-fighter after Granger explains who the real traitor is. And Neville smiles crookedly, if a little hesitantly, at me before leaving with a less friendly-looking Markinswell.

 

But the true surprise comes with Weasley, of all people – _Ron_ Weasley, that is. He never trusted Viktor Krum and never made much of a secret about it, and in addition, he has become increasingly bitter and sarcastic towards Granger since she took up with Krum, even though that was more than a year after the two of them broke up. I can tell from the way Granger doesn't look directly at him during her briefing that she is dreading his reaction. Frankly, I can't say I’m looking forward to it either. Weasley, however, takes it in stride, hardly even swears, and dives straight into a solid and elegant plan to take out Krum on their way out of London.

 

As the meeting is breaking up, he comes up to Granger and tells her he is sorry. She looks up at him with wary eyes, and I can only just make out her words.

 

"I was so sure you'd say 'I told you so'. Thank you for not doing that." He grimaces.

"Bloody hell, Hermione, I never trusted Krum, true – but that was only because I was jealous. You know I was, ever since fourth year. If I _really_ didn’t trust him, I should have done something to find him out, long ago. That might actually have helped – but I never bothered. I've been stupid about him for years, so it's not as if I have anything to be angry at _you_ about."

 

"Oh, Ron!" she cries, throwing her arms around his neck. He looks a bit flabbergasted, but pats her back carefully while looking around the room to check for his girlfriend’s reaction. I withdraw my gaze quickly. The rift between Granger and Weasley has been bad for the group, and if this means they are patching it up, then at least that’s a tiny silver lining to this whole mess.

 

He comes over to me afterwards. "I'm sorry I've been so immature about this whole thing," he says, to my utter surprise. "I'm rubbish at being professional. Thank you for looking out for Hermione, she's not an easy one to help – I don't think I was ever cut out to do that." He rests his big hand awkwardly on my shoulder for a moment before taking Anderson’s hand and hurrying out, not waiting for an answer.

 

I linger a bit afterwards, in case Granger wants to discuss something in private, as she often does. It’s obvious she can’t wait for a moment alone to pull herself together, so I turn my back and busy myself with the teacups after Luna and Creampuff leave with a look back at her. The plan is already set in motion, however, and there is no room in it for anyone to take any personal time. By the time I turn back to her, her eyes are dry and steely, and the slight vulnerability I saw earlier might as well have been imagined. I don't see so much as a trace of it again until years later, in a dingy flat in Avignon.

 

"Let's go, Malfoy," she says, and we do.

 


End file.
